Originally published in The Express Tribune Dear Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, I hope this letter finds you well. I am sure you are busy; so let me cut to the chase. You know well that Pakistan’s Ahmadi community has long faced the wrath of extremist religious clerics. Despite succeeding in hijacking Jinnah’s vision, and pressurising the state into incorporating anti-Ahmadi bigotry into the...
Originally published in the Duluth News Tribune Aug. 28 marked the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which earned him a stature exclusive only to Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. All three men faced enormous challenges, but their faith, courage and sacrifices helped shape modern America by advancing the notion of basic human equality and universal freedom...
Originally Published in The Asbury Park Press I am an Ahmadi Muslim of Pakistani origin. Now 41 years old and a recent naturalized U.S. citizen, I shall, for the first time in my life, exercise my right to vote. I consider this civil right to be of utmost importance, but could not freely vote in my native Pakistan. To vote in Pakistan, the Pakistani constitution requires that I first declare...
Originally Published in The Richmond Times-Dispatch The presidential debates are history, leaving us cherishing Big Bird, binders full of women and horses and bayonets. America’s future now rests in the voters’ hands. Yet, about 90 million of us won’t vote this November — a trend that stretches back for decades. Americans have not broken the 60 percent voter turnout barrier for...